Petition for grassroots overhaul for the FA

Watching Spain last night made me realize how far behind we really are. Every player has two feet and can control the ball. Basics but we can even do that.

We can only make a difference by investing money into our grass roots and starting from scratch.

Stevie D

Darren I – Blogger, designer

Great idea, we can make a difference.

The 12 million we saved from sacking Sven McClaren should go into Burton, it could at least buy some bricks. Seriously though, we need a revolution at grass roots level, now is the time to start!

The FA make enough money so why dont they take a 10% pay cut each for 5 years i bet that would give a vast amount of even more money to take the grass roots to a whole new level

Jerome Hughes – Football Coach

Need to step up this grass roots football

I dont support England because of the ridiculous over hype they have and they really arent that good. However i would like to see it improved with proper coaching and this is why i am signing this petition.

Here, here, we have to do something now and I think the bigwigs at the FA may have finally realised too. What I would want is a complete overhaul of the old guard and get in some real football people, actual players and refs who know the game, not moneymen chairman and prawn munching politicians.

The FA are woeful, they threaten their own existence with their incompetence. Maybe its about time they are put to one side and football pros manage the game.

Jason Price – Banker

I’m all for this 100%! Great, great idea, how many more tournaments will we have to suffer from poorly managed players who can’t even control a football.

We need more high level coaches teaching the kids the basics.

Look at the Kruts. grow some balls FA and sort it !

Ok – this is MY take on it all; Don’t know what you’ll all think when you read it but have a look and see.

Anyways, you think Turkeys (I.e. The FA) will vote for Christmas? WAKE UP!!! The FA CAUSED all this!!! When they capitulated to the Rich clubs demands in 1992 and created the laughably named ‘Premier’ League (not so bloody Premier NOW is it when it’s own NATION can’t even hold a candle to sodding ALGERIA when it comes to passing!!!).

Either way – when the FA created said league with NO checks and balances to FORCE them to assist the National Team (just some vague promises – read LIES) that they would “do what they can” (nothing as it turns out) – Well then they virtually ensured that we would eventually come to THIS situation of being a country with a supposedly ‘great’ league, whilst simultaneously being an international football laughing stock as well. Oh yes and in doing this (founding the Premier League or assisting in it’s founding) – the FA ALSO ensured that ALL grassroots and lower level football (which PRODUCES our future players) would not be so much underfunded as STARVED of funds so the elite could cream off EVERYTHING for that greedy piece of crap we call our ‘National’ league – You wonder where the problems started? Well THERE – back in 1992 would be a good place to start looking………

Many of you are right in saying that our coaches are WOEFULLY underqualified and lacking in numbers but it’s MORE than that – WHERE do you think the pathetic excuse for a football ethic that is “pace, power etc is NEEDED in the English game” originates from? WHERE do you think that utter CRAP infiltrates our leagues (and our coaches and the methods which teach THEM and which THEY teach our young professionals) from? The very TOP of course – the all singing, all dancing, utterly USELESS Premier League THAT’S where.

So, to summarise – as Paul said – yes we DO need a revolution to clear out the stuffy old heads at the top of the FA and FORCE them to start qualifying ALL our coaches PROPERLY (with the UEFA licenses NOT the English ones) so they can teach our kids the right way to play but it’s more than that – Lest you haven’t all noticed;

There is also ONE organisation that’s consistently BLOCKED the progress of ANYTHING that would benefit the England team – from putting back the Burton Football Centre, to ensuring it would NOT train our youngsters technique – only instead being used as a Coach/Manager training centre, from seizing control of Academy training for it’s own clubs to piling up foreign youngsters in such numbers they DROWN our youngsters AND then arguing with UEFA about regulations aimed at putting a stop to such behaviour. from all that right on to seizing ALL the funds that should have been distributed properly WAY back in 1992 when football went TV mad in this country and then distributing so called occasional ‘gifts’ which are not one TENTH of what those amounts SHOULD be right on to making us ALL get used to paying prices to watch league football here that would cause RIOTS in Germany, France or Italy (and which make us a laughing stock as we meekly swallow their crap) and also undermining and FORCING the sacking of a number of FA Chief Executives who wanted to reform the FA and National Side and make them stronger.

And this paradox of an organisation IS? (Paradox as in destroying the National Team as it IS doing – It’s also destroying it’s own FAN base – as the more people hate England? The less will watch it) Anyway, that organisation IS? In case you hadn’t guessed yet – The FA Premier League – The ENORMOUS, greedy, self-interested-destructive dragon-like MONSTER at the heart of ALL that is wrong with English football, which 2 years ago after the debacle of our NON-Qualification for Euro 2008 IMMEDIATELY distanced itself from blame – stating it had LITTLE to do with the England team (which it’s virtually CONTROLLED for years now) and thus it’s policies had NOTHING to do with the subsequent failures – I notice such hurried denials are conspicuous by their Absence THIS time – I wonder why THAT is? Maybe because the damage they are doing and have done is now clear perhaps? So yes, a revolution is INDEED called for as Paul said – but not just one that takes on and FORCES reform of the FA but one that DESTROYS the power of the Premier League over ALL English Football as well. This wasn’t that urgent before, but it IS now!!! If not? The damage done by the PL might NEVER be overcome and non-qualifying ala 1994 and 2008 will become the RULE and not the exception for England.

I don’t think ANY of us want THAT, so we need to start attacking the FA and PL at EVERY opportunity NOW or the consequences for the next few generations of ENGLISH footballers will be just as serious as those of the generations ALREADY lost thanks to the PL’s greed (and I’m SURE we had at least SEVERAL of our own ENGLISH Messi’s, Villa’s, Torres’s Iniesta’s Xavi’s or Xabi Alonso’s or budding versions of them there that were lost to this PL-Led obsession of height, pace, power and foreigners – doubt we’ll ever know now will we?). We need to act NOW though – it’s time We, the Fans FORCED the FA to SAVE English football as on their own? They’ll do little or NOTHING again – Maybe keeping Capello was the right move though as how else are National coaches supposed to LEARN? (Bobby Robson lost EVERY game of ours at Euro ’88 and look how he did at his NEXT tournament? And Capello is EASILY a better manager than Robson was) and with the money thus saved from NOT sacking him – the FA have a starting point no? They have a starting point that is IF they have the balls to FINALLY do what is necessary and what HAS been for 20 odd years now if not FAR longer……………………..

This is excellent, it just goes to show how bad the FA really are, all of us THE FANS seem to all be in agreement that we need change. Keep the comments and sign-ups on here coming and remember to pass onto fellow fans. We have a petition set and ready to go but to get ball rolling, we want to get somefeedback in the blog first. One of our bloggers Mike Somerville will be on the BBC London Non-league show tonight discussing this topic in the aftermath of the past months events in SA where we failed so miserably.

Don’t you think that clubs should be working more closely with their communities too? Some clubs do this well, but many don’t. Club academies should also have to have plenty of english players in each intake. There’s so much to do…

In the level 2 coaching badge we learn to coach 6v6 small sided games and in the level 3 we learn to coach 8v8 small sided games! Ridiculous!! Kids play 7 a side and then 11v11, what is the point in learning to coach 6v6 and 8v8 if the kids dont even play this format?! No wonder we’re light years behind! The French have had Clairefontaine since the 90s yet we STILL haven’t opened Burton! And god knows that when we do open it, we’ll still mess it up!

Scott – as I said earlier. The FA and PL ALREADY know this and have done for YEARS (in the case of the FA). They continually REFUSE to do it though for a number of reasons (‘It’ being updating our coaching and training methods to produce REAL footballers and NOT mass-trained ‘PL’ style crap masquerading as footballers). Those reasons include nothing but GREED – The FA gets to keep ALL the money it has and NOT invest it in ANYTHING if they don’t act whilst the PL are deathly afraid the FA WILL do this and discourage them ANY way they can in order to ensure that no unfortunate English ‘Accidents’ (i.e. REAL footballers) come out of the Academies, give us cause to support our own and STOPS dead their lucrative trade in foreigners – The PL are DETERMINED to hold onto control of ALL league football Academies in England for the same reason – nothing but PURE, unadulterated Greed.

Another reason is incompetence – It’s been SO long since such a revamp was even attempted (under Venables I think and before him Bobby Robson a little) in English football (the revamp being to raise our technical levels to ACCEPTABLE – never mind Excellent for now – levels) that I honestly believe the bumbling, useless dinosaur of an FA that we have honestly do not have a CLUE how to do it, which coaches to hire, HOW to change their coaching badges to comply with UEFA’s Acceptable standards (as THEIRS clearly are unacceptable!!) and most of all WHERE to start this ‘playing’ style revolution as the FA currently have LITTLE control over Club Academies and Youth Football Coaches and THAT is where such a revolution is needed MOST.

One thing they COULD do though and yet refuse to via the coward Brooking is FORCE Youth teams AND Academies to play on SMALLER pitches at ALL times but for some unknown reason? They won’t – Ergo, the English game is lost in time with the “Speed, Strength, Skill” blueprint of CRAP that went out, oh……..44 years back maybe when ENGLAND DID WIN IT USING JUST THAT!!! I think the fact we won it using that blueprint AND that the “So-Called” Premiership idolises just THAT style of ahem ‘football’ is EXACTLY the two MAIN reasons we’re in the mess we’re in now as nearly ALL our coaches treat 1966 AND the Premier League’ ethos as Gospel and are insanely jealous, angry and resentful of ANY attempts to change them and their methods – but change they MUST or THIS debacle (2010 World Cup: England) AND the 2008 disaster? WILL become the norm’ for us and NONE of us want THAT to happen do we?………………………

Oh oops – So NEARLY forgot – I TO support this petition with ALL my might – I’m utterly FED UP and heartsick of seeing us LAUGHED out of major tournaments and OUR teams looking like they’re reading from ONE book whilst the REST of the bloody WORLD look like they’re learning from ANOTHER called “How to PLAY Football”. SORT THE BLOODY COACHING OUT FA – GET IT UP TO UEFA STANDARDS ALL OVER THE DAMN UK NOW!!!!!

Simon Worden.

Exactly Derek – WHERE are OUR Messi’s? OUR Iniesta’s? OUR Xavi’s? Villa’s, Torres, Xabi Alonso’s, Miroslave Klose’s and the rest? Well they might JUST be hiding in the pro’, semi-pro and “lower” leagues in England. That’s where. Remember when the likes of Forest, Villa, Liverpool et al DOMINATED Europe with teams made of almost entirely BRITISH players and such players (in the case of Kevin Keegan) won European Honours as best players etc? No?

Well THAT wellspring of talent is STILL out there – It’s not run dry no. It’s just with such a MULTICULTURAL (and HOW I HATE that word) ethos in the piece of crap at the Heart of all this (the Premier League). Our clubs are now SO used to buying FOREIGN Players that they’re AFRAID of British (specifically ENGLISH) players. It’s PATHETIC and NEEDS changing – At gunpoint if necessary with a FANS revolt. BTW Derek, we STILL need to change our coaching structure as well because even when clubs DO take a chance on British youngsters? They are still ALL coached the wrong way to fit in with the PREMIER LEAGUE rather than the FOOTBALL world. THAT has to stop and stop Now. Yes, there’s Much that needs doing but Every journey starts with a single step no?……………………….

Im in full agreement with this. The quicker something is done the better. If strength and pace is all our kids are being taught then its not a wonder we couldn’t string 3 passes together during that woeful and probably worst display of football by any team in the World Cup!

K Redmond – Football Coach

I dont see the need for under 12′s to be playing on full size pitches with full size goals.

7 a side would be much better, and with a smaller ball too.

Come FA you bunch of old farts, get real and sort it out NOW!!!!

Grassroots is important, but don’t expect us to produce players like Spain.

The weather in England is prohibitive to a nice passing game, especially at lower league level. Pitches in the North of England are usually at a slant, and 4 months of our season is played in sub-zero temperatures on frozen pitches.

Even taking into account all the indoor footbal that is played, the skills required in this game is difficult to transfer to the outdoor game when the climate is cold, windy, and wet.

I also think that as a nation, we have got too big for our boots. We think we produce players that are good enough, and try to match teams like Spain, France etc with possession football. This is our major downfall.

As you’ve pointed out, the game at all levels in England relies on pace and power. in England, we produce players that could, concievably, outpace and out power most teams in the world. So, if thats the case, why do we persist in trying to outplay the likes of Germany, Holland, Italy etc.

Why don’t we put our big, fast guys on the pitch and play a style that we know how to play?

Put yourselves in the boots of an opposition defender. Who would you rather face?

Heskey, Rooney, Milner, Lampard, Gerrard, Barry (Our apparent footballers that are the equal of any players in world football)

Or

Agbonlahor, Rooney, Walcott, Lennon, Rodwell, Richards (Not as technical, but will be past you in a flash)

Let’s forego the tired notions that our players are as good as others and play to our strengths. Pace and power…

Le Tiss was awesome. I don’t think England have a player like this anymore, which is a crying shame.

It’s easy, and correct, to blame grassroots coaching but that is not going to solve the present problem.

Look at the recent success of team like South Korea, Uruguay, Mexico, Greece even.

These are so called ‘lesser’ footballing nations, but they have actually benefitted from that. They have not thought ‘We’re South Korea, we ought to be good’. They have though ‘Well, we’re a pretty small bunch, we’ve not got any class strikers, nor playmakers. We aren’t blessed with great speed either. Right… What can we do?’.

And what they do is run… Run all day long. And play a short passing game, because they aren’t adept at long range passing. And keep running until they run the life out of the opposition. Now when they come up against a top team, this can be exposed. But against 90% of teams, they compete at a very good level.

So coaching is important in the long term (although as I have said before, the climate and conditions in England doesn’t help), but in the short term, let’s play to our strengths.

The FA as we’ve known it for years, needs simply to disappear and be replaced by a committee of respected ex English professionals: simple as that.

These faceless men in suits, who have no real qualification to rule our game, have been allowed to dictate it for far too long now. Let’s get the likes of Brooking, Coppell, Keegan, Charlton, Armfield, Lineker, into the decision making positions and end this farce that has gone on for too long and quite simply, has stifled our game from top to bottom.

Giving a failed foreign manager – who has no real concern for our game as a whole – an extra two year contract worth £12m just has to be the last straw. Time for a revolution.

Signed.

Mike Somerville. Writer